Celtic Method for Reading Tarot Cards

This method of reading tarot cards is most suitable for obtaining an answer to a
definite question. The Reader first selects a card to represent the person or,
matter about which inquiry is made.

This card is called the Significator.

Should the Questioner wish to ascertain something in connection with himself he takes the one which
corresponds to his personal description.

A Knight should be chosen as the
Significator if the subject of inquiry is a man of forty years old and upward; a
King should be chosen for any male who is under that age; a Queen for a woman who
is over forty years and a Page for any female of less age.

The four Court Cards in Wands represent very fair people, with yellow or
auburn hair, fair complexion and blue eyes.

The Court Cards in Cups signify
people with light brown or dull fair hair and grey or blue eyes.

Those in Swords
stand for people having hazel or grey eyes, dark brown hair and dull complexion.

Lastly, the Court Cards in Pentacles are referred to persons with very dark
brown or black hair, dark eyes and sallow or swarthy complexions.

These
allocations are subject, however, to the following reserve, which will prevent
them being taken too conventionally. You can be guided on occasion by the known
temperament of a person; one who is exceedingly dark may be very energetic, and
would be better represented by a Sword card than a Pentacle. On the other hand,
a very fair subject who is indolent and lethargic should be referred to Cups
rather than to Wands.

If it is more convenient for the purpose of a divination to take as the
Significator the matter about which inquiry is to be made, that Trump or small
card should be selected which has a meaning corresponding to the matter. Let it
be supposed that the question is: Will a lawsuit be necessary? In this case,
take the Trump No. 11, or justice, as the Significator. This has reference to
legal affairs. But if the question is: Shall I be successful in my lawsuit? one
of the Court Cards must be chosen as the Significator. Subsequently, consecutive
readings may be performed to ascertain the course of the process itself and
its result to each of the parties concerned.

Having selected the Significator, place it on the table, face upwards. Then
shuffle and cut the rest of the pack three times, keeping the faces of the cards
downwards.

Turn up the top or FIRST CARD of the pack; cover the Significator with it,
and say: This covers him. This card gives the influence which is affecting the
person or matter of inquiry generally, the atmosphere of it in which the other
currents work.

Turn up the SECOND CARD and lay it across the FIRST, saying: This crosses
him. It shows the nature of the obstacles in the matter. If it is a favorable
card, the opposing forces will not be serious, or it may indicate that something
good in itself will not be productive of good in the particular connection.

Turn up the THIRD CARD; place it above the Significator, and say: This crowns
him. It represents (a) the Questioner's aim or ideal in the matter; (b) the best
that can be achieved under the circumstances, but that which has not yet been
made actual.

Turn up the FOURTH CARD; place it below the Significator, and say: This is
beneath him. It shows the foundation or basis of the matter, that which has
already passed into actuality and which the Significator has made his own.

Turn up the FIFTH CARD; place it on the side of the Significator from which
he is looking, and say: This is behind him. It gives the influence that is just
passed, or is now passing away.

If the Significator is a Trump (Major Arcana Card) or any small card that cannot be said to
face either way, the Reader must decide before beginning the operation which
side he will take it as facing.

Turn up the SIXTH CARD; place it on the side that the Significator is facing,
and say: This is before him. It shows the influence that is coming into action
and will operate in the near future.

The cards are now disposed in the form of a cross, the Significator--covered
by the First Card--being in the centre.

The next four cards are turned up in succession and placed one above the
other in a line, on the right hand side of the cross.

The first of these, or the SEVENTH CARD of the operation, signifies
himself--that is, the Significator--whether person or thing-and shows its
position or attitude in the circumstances.

The EIGHTH CARD signifies his house, that is, his environment and the
tendencies at work therein which have an effect on the matter--for instance, his
position in life, the influence of immediate friends, and so forth.

The NINTH CARD gives his hopes or fears in the matter.

The TENTH is what will come, the final result, the culmination which is
brought about by the influences shown by the other cards that have been turned
up in the reading.

It is on this card that the Reader should especially concentrate his
intuitive faculties and his memory in respect of the official divinatory
meanings. It should embody whatsoever you may have divined from
the other cards on the table, including the Significator itself and concerning
him or it, not excepting such lights upon higher significance as might fall like
sparks from heaven if the card which serves for the oracle, the card for
reading, should happen to be a Trump Major.

The operation is now completed; but should it happen that the last card is of
a dubious nature, from which no final decision can be drawn, or which does not
appear to indicate the ultimate conclusion of the affair, it may be well to
repeat the operation, taking in this case the Tenth Card as the Significator,
instead of the one previously used. The pack must be again shuffled and cut
three times and the first ten cards laid out as before. By this a more detailed
account of "What will come" may be obtained.

If in any reading the Tenth Card should be a Court Card, it shows that the
subject of the reading falls ultimately into the hands of a person
represented by that card, and its end depends mainly on him. In this event also
it is useful to take the Court Card in question as the Significator in a fresh
operation, and discover what is the nature of his influence in the matter and to
what issue he will bring it.

Great facility may be obtained by this method in a comparatively short time,
allowance being always made for the gifts of the operator-that is to say, his
faculty of insight, latent or developed-and it has the special advantage of
being free from all complications.

The following is a diagram of the cards as laid out in a Celtic Cross Reading.
The Significator is here facing to the left.

The Significator.

That covers him.

What crosses him.

What crowns him.

What is beneath him.

What is behind him.

What is before him.

Himself.

His house.

His hopes or fears.

What will come.

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